Elevated railroad



(No Model.)

J, N. V ELEVATED I ATTORNEY A' N4 PETERS. Pholu-Lhographer. Wuhinghan, D. C-

(No Model.) 1 N VALLEY- 2 sheetssheet 2. BLEVATED RAILROAD.

N0. 408,941. APfmntedl Aug. 13.1889.

' mmQXXXQ imm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN N. VALLEY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

ELEVATED RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,941, dated August 13, 1889.

Application tiled January 25, 1889. Serial No. 297,519. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

VBe it known that I, JOHN N. VALLEY, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New ersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail-Joints and Supports for Elevated Railroads, of which the following is a full, clear, a'nd exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in rail-joints and supports, especially adapted for use with elevated railways, cylindrical or square rails, and has for its object to provide simple and durable means for uniting the abutting ends of rail-sections; and a further object of the invention is to provide an ei"- fective means of tying the rails to an elevated structure and bracing the saidrails.

The invention consists in the novel construction of the plate and in the combination with the said plate of a rail-lug; also in the details of the device for connecting the rails and fish-plates.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation ot' an elevated structure, illustrating the rails attached thereto by my improved device. Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elarged perspective view of one of the transverse connectingbeams of the structure, illustrating the attachment of the rail thereto. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of Fig. 3, the rail being in section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end of the rail. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of an elevated Structure, illustrating the application of the rails thereto and the device for strengthenin g the said rails. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one end of the connecting-beams of the structure, enlarged to illustrate the connection of the braces with the plate; and Fig. S is a bottom plan view of Fig. 7.

To fully illustrate the application of my invention, I have shown in connection therewith an elevated structure upon which the rails are especially adapted to be laid, the said structure comprising a series of spaced columns 10, united in pairs by transverse beams or girders 11, as shown in Fig. 2, which girders are preferably provided with a smooth fiat upper surface, at each end of which girder 11 a T-plate 12 is rigidly secured to the upper` surface, the said plate being so secured to the girder that that portion 13 of the plate known as the head will lie transversely of the girder, and project a distance beyond the extremity, as best illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 7. The attachment of the plates 12 to the girder 11 is usually effected by means of bolts 14 or equivalent fastening devices.

In the head member or section 13 of. each plate 12 two spaced longitudinal slots 15 are produced, the inner longitudinal Wall of which slots is preferably in vertical alignment with the end of the girder. Each railsection adapted to be connected or fastened to the girders is provided at or near the extremity with a downwardly-extending, essentially perpendicular, lug 16 integral with the inner face, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 5.

In placing' the rails in position the opposed ends are brought together, and the approaching lugs 16 of each section are passed downward through the slots 15 into the T-plate 12 to a'contact with the outer end of the girders until the under surface of the rail is brought into immediate contact with the upper face of the plate. The position of the slots 15 with respect to the outer longitudinal edge of the T-plate is so calculated that when the lugs 16 are entered into the slots the outer face of the rails 17, which are preferably cylindrical or Square, will be in vertical alignment, or essentially so, With the said outer longitudinal edge of the plate, as best shown in Figs. 4t and 7. The attachment of the rails to the structure is completed by passing a bolt or bolts 18 through the rail-lugs 16 into the girders.

In operation upon elevated structures the rail-sections are made to abut centrally over each column 10, and in order to strengthen the rail-sections between the columns I provide a truss 19 for each rail-section, the ends whereof are provided with a longitudinal slot 20, through which slots the rail-lugs 16-are made to pass after having been projected through the plate 12, and the bolt or bolts 18 employed to secure the lugs to the girders are-passed through the said lugs below the truss, as illustrated in Fig. 7. Thus the truss, which is connected at the center to the under surface of the rail by a block 20, serves not IOO only to strengthen the rail intermediate of its ends, but also provides a support for the projecting portion of the plate-head 13.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a plate provided with longitudinal spaced slots near one end, of a rail provided with an essentially perpendicular lug integral with the inner face thereof, which lug is passed downward through one of the slots in the plate, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with a support and a plate extending beyond the support, provided with spaced longitudinal slots in the projecting end, of rail-sections provided at or near their extremities with an essentially perpendicular lug integral with the inner face, said lugs adapted to be passed downward through the slots in the said plates, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with a support and a plate extending beyond the support, provided with spaced longitudinal slots in the projecting end attached to the said support, of railsections provided at or near their extremities' with an essentially perpen dieular lu g integral with the inner face, said lugs adapted to be passed downward through the slots in the said pla-tes, and means, substantially as shown and described, for securing the rail-lugs to the support below the plates, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with a support and a T-plate rigidlysecured to the saine, provided with longitudinal spaced slots in the headsection, which head-section extends beyond the end of the support, of rail-sections provided with an essentially perpendicular lug integral with the inner face, passed through the said slots and secured to the ends of the supports, substantially as shown and described, whereby the front of the rail is made to rest upon the upper surface of the plate, and the front of the rail is also brought in vertical alignment with the outer end face of the plate, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination,with a support, and a T- plate secured to the said support,l1aving slots produced in the head-section, which headsection projects beyond the end of the snpport, of rail-sections provided with essentially perpendicular lugs integral with the inner face, passed downward through the slots in the plate, a truss of essentially even length with the rail-sections, having slotted ends to receive the rail-lugs below the T-plate, and bolts or other equivalent device for securing the rail-lugs to the end of the support below the truss extremity', substantially as shown and described, whereby the rail strengthened at the center and the projecting end of the T-plate is supported, as set forth.

JOHN N. VALLEY.

NVitnesses:

J. F. Acnur., Jr., C. SEDGWICK. 

